The morning after my arrival in Columbia was very inclement. A cold drizzle, which iced every thing out of doors, made me defer my visit to Fort Granby until noon, when, seeing no prospect of abatement, I procured a conveyance, and crossing the great bridge over
* Some writers attribute Greene's presence at Fort Motte on this occasion to other motives than here represented. An unsatisfactory correspondence had recently taken place between Greene and Marion, the former having blamed the latter for not furnishing cavalry horses when in his power to do so. Marion, conscious of having been eminently faithful, felt deeply wronged, and tendered the resignation of his commission to Greene. The latter soon perceived the injustice of his suspicions, and took this, the first opportunity, for a personal interview to heal the wound.
** A slave found in the streets of a town after dark, without a pass, is liable to be locked in prison until morning, and this was written to prevent such an occurrence. The laws of South Carolina inflict the penalty of fine and imprisonment upon a person found guilty of writing a pass for a slave without authority. I was informed of a curious circumstance connected with this fact, which occurred near Fort Motte, a few days previous to my visit there. Two slaves, carpenters, had escaped from their home, and were found near Camden with well-written passes or permits to find work, signed by the name of their master. Who wrote the forged passes, was a question which puzzled the neighborhood. A mulatto on the plantation was suspected, and, on being accused, confessed that he wrote them, having been secretly taught to write by an overseer. A jury was called to try him for the offense, but as the law did not contemplate the ability of a slave to write, and as the term person did not apply to a negro, no punishment could be legally awarded. The jury simply recommended his master to flog him.
Fort Granby and its Garrison.—Mr. Friday and Colonel Maxwell.—Capture of Fort Granby.
the Congaree, rode to the house of James Cacey, Esq., the "Fort Granby" of the Revolution, two miles below.
It is a strong frame building, two stories in height, and stands upon an eminence near the Charleston road, within three fourths of a mile of Friday's Ferry, upon the Congaree. It overlooks ancient Granby and the country around. Several houses of the old village are there, but the solitude of desolation prevails, for not a family remains. Mr. Cacey was a hopeless invalid, yet he was able to give me many interesting reminiscences connected with that locality, * and I passed an hour very pleasantly with him and his family.
The dwelling of Mr. Cacey was originally built by some gentlemen of Pine Tree (Camden) as a store-house for cotton and other products of the country, whence they were sent upon flat-boats down the river to the sea-board. When the chain of military posts from Camden to Charleston was established, this building, eligibly located, was fortified, and called Fort Granby. A ditch was digged around it; a strong parapet was raised; bastions were formed; batteries were arranged; and an abatis was constructed. The garrison consisted of three hundred and fifty men, chiefly Loyalists, with a few mounted Hessians, under the command of Major Maxwell (a refugee from the eastern shore of Maryland), of the Prince of Wales's regiment. He was neither brave nor experienced, and the want of these qualities of the commandant being known to Lee, he felt no hesitation in attacking him in his strong position. Detaching a small troop of cavalry, under Captain Armstrong, to watch the movements of Rawdon, Lee pushed forward with his usual celerity, to the investment of Fort Granby. Sumter, instead of joining Greene before Camden, had made a demonstration against Fort Granby, a few days before, but finding it too strong for his small arms, had retired, and marched to attack the British post at Orangeburg, fifty miles below. Lee arrived in the vicinity of the fort on the evening of the fourteenth of May,1781 the day on which Sumter took possession of Orangeburg; and in the edge of a wood, within six hundred yards of the fort, he began the erection of a battery. A dense fog the next morning enabled him to complete it, and mount the six pounder brought by Captain Finley from Fort Motte, before they were discovered by the garrison. When the fog rolled away, Captain Finley discharged his cannon, and, at the same moment, the legion infantry advanced, took an advantageous position, and opened a fire upon the enemy's pickets. This sudden annunciation of the presence of an enemy, and his imposing display, alarmed Maxwell excessively, and he received Captain Eggleston, who was sent with a flag to demand a surrender, with great respect. After a brief consultation with his officers, the major agreed to surrender the fort, on condition that private property of every sort, without an investigation of title, should be left in the hands of its possessors; ** that the garrison should be per-